# US 2015/0145784 A1 · Drawing on a touchscreen > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2015/0145784 A1 - Document ID: US20150145784A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 14/090,311 - Filed: 2013-11-26 - Published: 2015-05-28 - Earliest claimed: 2013-11-26 - Assignees: Adobe Systems Incorporated - Applicants: Adobe Systems Incorporated - Inventors: Geoffrey Dowd; David Gideon Macy; Arian Behzadi; Gregory Cy Muscolino - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20150145784A1 ## CPC - G06F 3/04883: for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text - G06F 3/0488: using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) ## Abstract A touchscreen device may be configured to facilitate drawing lines, circles, and shapes through use of a guide device placed on the touchscreen. The touchscreen device may detect the position and orientation of the guide device, for example, by determining an axis of the guide device based on a set of locations at which the guide device triggered contact signals on the touchscreen. Based on the detected position and orientation of the guide device on its touchscreen, the touchscreen device may display one or more lines or shapes on the touchscreen. If a user traces a portion of such a displayed line or shape, the touchscreen device may display the traced portion. A button on the guide device may be configured to cause the touchscreen device to sequentially display available lines and shapes. The user may also configure the button to display one or more user-generated shapes. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method comprising: detecting a set of locations at which a guide device in contact with a touchscreen triggered a set of contact signals on the touchscreen; using a processor, determining a position of the guide device on the touchscreen and an orientation of the guide device on the touchscreen by determining a longitudinal axis of the guide device based on the detected set of locations on the touchscreen; and displaying a line on the touchscreen parallel to the longitudinal axis determined based on the determined position and orientation of the guide device on the touchscreen. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein: the determining of the position and the orientation of the guide device includes comparing a detected distance to a reference distance, the detected distance spanning two detected locations among the detected set of locations, the reference distance being characteristic of the guide device. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein: the determined longitudinal axis intersects the two detected locations. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein: the displaying of the line displays a first line parallel to the longitudinal axis; and the method further comprises displaying a second line parallel to the longitudinal axis and opposite the first line on the touchscreen. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein: the displaying of the line on the touchscreen is at a distance apart from the guide device on the touchscreen; and the method further comprises determining the distance from the line to the guide device based on a speed of the guide device perpendicular to the longitudinal axis. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 further comprising: detecting a drag input that starts from a first further location on the touchscreen and ends at a second further location on the touchscreen; determining a start point of a line segment along the displayed line based on the first further location on the touchscreen; determining an end point of the line segment along the displayed line based on the second further location on the touchscreen; and displaying the line segment on the touchscreen thicker than the displayed line on the touchscreen. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 further comprising: detecting activation of a button on the guide device; and replacing the displayed line with a shape displayed on the touchscreen in response to the detected activation of the button. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7 further comprising: detecting a drag input that starts from a first further location on the touchscreen and ends at a second further location on the touchscreen; determining a start point of a portion of the displayed shape based on the first further location on the touchscreen; determining an end point of the portion of the displayed shape based on the second further location on a touchscreen; and displaying the portion of the shape on the touchscreen thicker than a remainder of the displayed shape on the touchscreen. ### Claim 9 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein: the shape is a user-generated shape; and the method further comprises receiving a command to configure the button to cause display of the user-generated shape. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 further comprising: determining that the displayed line is within a threshold distance of a point on an object displayed on the touchscreen during activation of a button on the guide device; and the method further comprises moving the displayed line to intersect the point in response to the displayed line being within the threshold distance of the point during the activation of the button. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein: the activation of the button is a press of the button beyond a predetermined threshold duration; and the method further comprises displaying the point on the object with an icon that indicates the point is within the threshold distance. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 further comprising: detecting a user input that activates a vanishing point of a two-dimensional perspective view that depicts a three-dimensional space; and wherein the displayed line is depicted as vertical within the three-dimensional space in response to the detected user input and based on the longitudinal axis. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 further comprising: detecting a user input that activates a vanishing point of a two-dimensional perspective view that depicts a three-dimensional space; and wherein the displayed line points toward the vanishing point in response to the detected user input and based on the longitudinal axis. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, wherein: the user input that activates the vanishing point selects a first vanishing point instead of a second vanishing point of the two-dimensional perspective view; and the displayed line points toward the selected first vanishing point and not toward the second vanishing point. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 further comprising: detecting a drag input that starts from a first further location on a first side of the displayed line and ends at a second further location on an opposite side of the displayed line; and modifying contents displayed on the touchscreen in accordance with the drag input but only from the first further location to the displayed line and not from the displayed line to the second further location. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, wherein: the drag input corresponds to an eraser tool within a drawing application; and the modifying of the contents includes omitting a first object drawn between the first further location and the displayed line without omitting a second object drawn between the displayed line and the second further location. ### Claim 17 A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a machine with a touchscreen, cause the machine to perform operations comprising: detecting a set of locations at which a guide device in contact with a touchscreen triggered a set of contact signals on the touchscreen; determining a position of the guide device on the touchscreen and an orientation of the guide device on the touchscreen by determining a longitudinal axis of the guide device based on the detected set of locations on the touchscreen; and displaying a line on the touchscreen parallel to the longitudinal axis determined based on the determined position and orientation of the guide device on the touchscreen. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise: detecting a drag input that starts from a first further location on the touchscreen and ends at a second further location on the touchscreen; determining a start point of a line segment along the displayed line based on the first further location on the touchscreen; determining an end point of the line segment along the displayed line based on the second further location on the touchscreen; and displaying the line segment on the touchscreen thicker than the displayed line on the touchscreen. ### Claim 19 A system comprising: a touchscreen; a touch module configured to detect a set of locations at which a guide device in contact with a touchscreen triggered a set of contact signals on the touchscreen; a processor configured by an analysis module to determine a position of the guide device on the touchscreen and an orientation of the guide device on the touchscreen by determining a longitudinal axis of the guide device based on the detected set of locations on the touchscreen; and an output module configured to display a line on the touchscreen parallel to the longitudinal axis determined based on the determined position and orientation of the guide device on the touchscreen. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The system of claim 19, wherein: the analysis module configures the processor, in determining the position and the orientation of the guide device, to compare a detected distance to a reference distance, the detected distance spanning two detected locations among the detected set of locations, the reference distance being characteristic of the guide device.